Restrained yet terrifying. Hauntingly, achingly beautiful in its pain. The horror of history, the weight of grief, the indescribable frisson of worlds overlapping. I loved The Story of Southern Islet, and I love this film.

Live intro & Q&A with director 張吉安 Chong Keat Aun

IMHO the best Singapore film of at least the last decade. It's like Hemingway's prose — sparse on the surface but incredibly rich once you put in the effort to excavate.

I'm so annoyed at the lukewarm reception it's getting that I'm writing an essay titled "The Case for a Misunderstood Masterpiece".

EDIT: Essay published here
asianmoviepulse.com/2024/01/a-year-of-no-significance/

I'm glad I caught this on the big screen, even if it isn't really a film for me, because the fact that it even exists is a minor miracle

A young boy discovers the joys of playing with his bird 🫠

Wait, but whatever happened to that poor seal though 😢

You know you're watching this in Asia when there's a collective gasp from the audience at the horror of the skater boys WEARING THEIR SHOES INTO AN ASIAN HOME HOW FUCKING DARE THEY